Safety in Production
Occupational Safety Control at a Chemical Industry Plant
Task
A mineral fertilizer manufacturer noticed a deterioration in the health of employees working in one of its workshops. This decline in well-being could be an early sign of potential occupational diseases. Moreover, health issues among specialists are one of the most common causes of industrial accidents resulting from human error.
To address the situation, an analysis of working conditions and a workplace certification were conducted. As a result, excessive levels of harmful chemical substances were detected, along with their likely sources. The company purchased specialized equipment to monitor the concentration of hazardous substances in the air of the working area. However, the desired outcome was not achieved, since the installed sensors lacked a unified interface and data logging system, and alerts about exceeding the permissible concentration limits were provided only through sound and light signals.
Solution
Our company’s specialists selected continuous sulfuric acid concentration monitoring sensors equipped with built-in LoRaWAN wireless interfaces. For the sensors that had already been installed, we added LoRaWAN wireless modems that read data from sensor outputs and transmitted it to the gateway. One gateway was sufficient to cover the entire plant area.
In addition to harmful gas detectors, humidity and temperature sensors were installed, along with devices for monitoring particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air. The company also decided to implement a predictive diagnostics system for equipment, as well as temperature and vibration monitoring of critical components on conveyors and electric motors.
All of this data was transmitted through the gateway to an application server for processing and visualization. If the concentration of harmful substances anywhere exceeded the permissible threshold, the LoRa-based system immediately detected it, and personnel at control points instantly received notifications via email and other communication channels.
Result
Thanks to the deployed LoRaWAN-based system, we successfully adapted the Internet of Things to minimize the impact of hazardous substances on human health. This implementation led to reduced compensation payments for work in hazardous conditions and decreased pension fund contributions for early-retirement categories. At the same time, the analytical data obtained from the predictive diagnostics system helps forecast equipment failures, strengthen monitoring of high-risk machinery, and prevent production downtime during maintenance.